Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Nobody doubts Sutter is a smart guy, I always hate the smartest guy in the room comments because these guys are paid to be smart, not avoid being the smartest guy in the room by taking the easy way, or the way that fans will be happy.
So with that you know he sees what we do ... a bottom half of the forward ranks that isn't really working right now. He knows Ritchie can't finish, and that Lewis is in the right spots but his hands are shot. He sees that Lucic has had a tough month, and that Toffoli is playing on a line that can't produce, potentially wasting him.
Would assume he makes decisions based on things we don't necessarily see ... like how his teams have behaved in the past when they go up against teams that are physical through their line up. How he loses say 30% of his bench on those nights.
Then you look at Ritchie and Lewis and Lucic a different way. Also why he took a chance on a 450 pound third pairing.
If I had a $1 for every time someone on twitter pointed out Ritchie had no points, or that he needs to be fired to the sun I'd be wealthy. Think maybe points just aren't the point.
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Good points! First two lines are fairly small and fast. But size on the opposition over a long game and a long series is what's needed to slow the faster team down. If you look back on that Kings come from behind win in that Sharks/Kings series years ago, that's what Sutter did. He wore down the Sharks to make it a game of attrition. That was an awesome show of why you need a big team regardless if the bottom lines can score or not. And, the Kings went on to win the Cup after that. Heck, Richards and Lewis make less than a million together. They're more reliable than Dube who is twice as fast but is a huge reliability.